What is the motivation of tourists to visit a destination developed with tourists’ participation? A case study of Ant Forest

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study takes Ant Forest as an example to explore tourists’ new motivation types with respect to willingness to pay to visit a destination that developed with tourists’ participation. A total of 320 valid samples were analysed and four types of motivations were discovered, namely social motivation, experience motivation, novelty motivation, and reputation motivation. The results of regression analysis indicate that all four types of motivation have positive impacts on the willingness to pay to visit Ant Forest. And motivation derived from the experience showed the strongest associations with willingness to pay to visit, preceded by factors such as novelty, reputation and social aspects. The results fulfilled the theory of motivation in the tourism field and the findings contribute to the development of novel tourism products and facilitate the exploration of emerging market.